The US Supreme Court on Monday granted certiorari in two cases titled Kansas v. Carr, consolidating them for oral argument. These cases examine whether the Eighth Amendment right to an "individualized sentencing" was violated by the decision not to sever the sentencing phase of a co-defendant's tri....... [more]

Kansas and Arizona on Wednesday filed notice of an appeal to the US Supreme Court asking that federal elections officials force residents of their states to prove US citizenship before registering to vote. In November the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that the two states cannot dem....... [more]

The Kansas legislature on Wednesday approved SB 95, a proposed ban on an abortion procedure typically used in second trimester abortions, becoming the first state in the country to do so. The procedure, dilation and evacuation, is used in about 8 percent of all abortions conducted in Kansas. The me....... [more]

Sheriffs from Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging Colorado's recreational marijuana law. The sheriffs are asking the court to strike down Amendment 64, the legislation legalizing the sale of recreational marijuana, and to close Colorado's licensed marijuana retailers....... [more]

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the state of Nebraska to pay Kansas $5.5 million, settling a long dispute over water use from the Republican River. The river originates in Colorado, runs through Nebraska and ends in Kansas. In a compact reached in 1943, 49 percent of the river's water was al....... [more]

An Arkansas enacted a bill that prohibits cities and local governments from establishing ordinances with anti-discrimination codes became law Monday when Asa Hutchinson declined to veto it. Critics had called for a veto, as the legislation prohibits local governments from enacting laws to protect le....... [more]

The Kansas Senate on Friday approved a bill that would prohibit a common second trimester abortive procedure by redefining it as "dismemberment abortions". The bill was prepared by the National Right to Life Committee and encountered overwhelming support on the Senate floor, passing in a 31-9 vote....... [more]

The Missouri House of Representatives on Thursday approved a right-to-work bill by a vote of 91-64. The bill will now be sent to the Missouri Senate, where it could face a filibuster. Even if the bill is approved by the Senate, Governor Jay Nixon is expected to veto it. The bill allows workers who....... [more]

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback on Tuesday rescinded a number of executive orders by the former governor, including one that protected lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) state employees from unfair hiring practices, sexual harassment and other types of discrimination at work. The previous e....... [more]

JURIST Guest Columnist Jeffrey D. Jackson, of the Washburn University School of Law, discusses the complexities of applying state and federal court orders to state marriage laws ...On October 6, 2014, the US Supreme Court denied certiorari on all seven cases challenging state bans on same-sex marria....... [more]

The Kansas Supreme Court decided Tuesday to allow same-sex marriage licenses to be issued in the most populous county in Kansas. Johnson County had begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in October and was challenged in state court. A federal court decision earlier in November declared....... [more]